Only place I've gotten them reliably is Avis in Phoenix. Possible they have them at LAX, too, but have only used Hertz. Hertz does list them on their "fun" vehicle list, but that stock varies by location, and I've never seen one on the lot at LAX.

I rented one in San Diego earlier this year, and the only place I could find was a small private rental place. None of the chains had them.

There are other convertibles in the world! And it's not really cheating.

I hear ya!

I just want to have FUN on this drive. I've been to California on pleasure and business about a million times (in SF every month), but I've never done the drive up the coast thing. No kids - just the wife and I.

What I REALLY wanted to do was have my Lotus there - to be able to hit all those coastline twisties and canyons. That's heaven to me. The cost and logistics of having my car shipped from Chicago to Cali was just too much.

So next best option would be a Wrangler. If no dice, I'll prolly rent a convertible from Hertz - usually they have an Eclipse or Mustang or summat.